The Northern Lights
by Patrick the Stump
Summary: Lucy and Lorcan go exploring - merry christmas, Bethy :3


This is for **Beth** - because she's amazing and stuff. Merry Christmas!

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><p><span>The Northern Lights<span>

Lucy prodded Lorcan in the stomach, startling him into a standing position. He was still holding a book, a transfiguration guide that he was re-reading for the seventeenth time to prepare himself for the exams that were taking place the following morning.

"Lorcan," Lucy sighed, trying to pry the book away from his hands, "All this worrying is going to make you sick. You've done enough already, there's no use fussing over it now."

"I don't think I can do it," he told her, his voice cracking a little, "No matter how hard I try, I can't beat Lysander. I can't be perfect. I'm always going to be second best," he ran a hand through his blond hair, causing it to tuft up in places around the middle. This, coupled with his tired, red eyes, made him look almost manic.

Lucy shrugged, looking at him seriously, "So what if you can't?" she told him, "So what if you don't do as well as Lysander. He's a bloody Ravenclaw – nobody will get higher marks than him. You can't beat yourself up about, you've got plenty of things that Lysander hasn't."

"Yeah," Lorcan said sarcastically, "Like what?"

Lucy paused in mock thought, bringing a finger to her chin as she pondered, "A sense of humour, possibly, not that you've been showing much of that lately."

Lorcan glared at her, snatching his book back.

Lucy winked, and continued, "Well, certainly not good-looks – at least not with that scowl on your face."

Lucy was sure that she saw the corners of Lorcan's lips twitch upwards for a second.

"And last, but certainly not least, I'm pretty sure that you used to actually have a sort of, thirst for adventure," she cocked her head to the side, a thoughtful look on her face, "You wanted to explore the world, you wanted to travel and to see things and now the only thing you want is to beat your brother – I say we try and get the explorer Lorcan back. I say we go for a little adventure."

~xx~

Lorcan collapsed onto the grass beside the lake – it was dark now, and cold, but Lucy followed suit. The wind began to whistle, and Lucy laughed as it whipped her almost red hair back into Lorcan's face, causing him to splutter.

She yawned, snuggling into Lorcan's lap with a quiet contentment – it had been fairly easy to coax Lorcan away from his studies, in the end. She was sure that, no matter how much he said he was fine, that he too wanted a little peace and quiet, a little time away from the repetition of half-forgotten spells and the constant scratching of quills that had filled the Hufflepuff common room for several weeks now. It wasn't just him that was feeling the pressure of the exams, either. Lucy had done her fair share of revision, and she was confidant in her ability to at least pass - compared to her family, Lucy had always been a little mediocre, but that was okay – she was used to this, and she was fully prepared for being very average.

Lucy had been missing Lorcan more than she should. She hardly ever saw him anymore, as he was always in the library or studying with his friends. When she did see him, at meal times or in the common room, there was always an icy, unfriendly air about his persona that scared Lucy a little. She knew that Lorcan's mood was only temporary, and that after the exams, things would go back to how they had always been, but Lucy couldn't wait that long. She wanted her Lorcan back – _now._

Lucy, shivering, pulled off Lorcan's cloak and wrapped it around herself. Lorcan raised her eyebrows at her, and she shrugged, "If you're not going to be my knight in shining armour, then I guess I'll have to do it myself." Lorcan let out a small bark of laughter, and gently lay down against the damp grass, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger.

Lucy lay down beside him, her hands tracing the constellations in the sky with ease, "I think we've discovered The Northern Lights, explorer Lorcan," Lucy said in mock seriousness, turning to face her friend.

In spite of himself, Lorcan chuckled, "You do realise that _a_, the northern lights already exist, therefore it would be a pretty crap discovery, and _b_, we are in Scotland." He was still laughing while Lucy pretended to be offended. She pointed straight up above their heads, and shook her own adamantly, "Can't you see it, there?"

Lorcan glanced at the place where Lucy was pointing too, and laughed again, "That's just an oddly coloured cloud, you idiot."

"Nope," Lucy shook her head again, "It's definitely the Northern Lights."

Lorcan let it go, shuffling so that he was right beside Lucy, his hands placed behind his head as he breathed in deeply, letting the fresh air fill his lungs. He's missed this.

He wasn't looking up at the sky though, but towards Lucy. Her wavy hair was tucked messily behind her ears, which she complained stuck out at odd angles, even though Lorcan couldn't see a thing wrong with them. Her dark grey eyes stared up at the dark sky like it was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, a small smile pulling around her lips.

"Lorcan," she yelled, jumping up, her red hair bouncing upwards, casting a shadow against the moon.

Lorcan, who was startled to say the least at Lucy's outburst, also looked up, expecting to see a flying saucer or something as equally exciting.

"It's a shooting star," Lucy whispered, snuggling into Lorcan's shoulder with awe-filled eyes, "Make a wish."

As they both stared up at the lights of a muggle airplane flying above them, Lorcan decided he didn't need to make a wish.

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><p><strong>Thankyou for reading, please review.<strong>


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